From: Jenny Blaker
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2024 12:43 PM
To: Laura Sparks <[email protected]>; Ben Ford <[email protected]>; Susan Harvey <[email protected]>; Kay Rivers <[email protected]>; Sylvia Lemus <[email protected]>
Cc: Craig Scott <[email protected]>; Damien O'Bid <[email protected]>; Kevin Patterson <[email protected]>
Subject: City Council agenda, Sept 24, 11D. Putnam Park project CAUTION:EXTERNAL SENDER
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Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council
In Putnam Park, a small seasonal waterway/ditch runs west to east alongside the southern end of the Park adjacent to Myrtle Avenue, then turns north to enter the Laguna de Santa Rosa at the northern edge of the park.
In early 2022 when the conceptual plans for the Capital Improvement Plan at Putnam Park were under discussion, a number of people including Council members Laura Sparks and Ben Ford, with staff from the Laguna Foundation, biology professor Nick Geist from SSU, and others, met to look at the potential feasibility of cleaning up the waterway and creating a shaded area with native trees and shrubs on the east side, to make a pleasant walkway as well as to help clean up stormwater before it discharges into the Laguna. We also discussed the potential for an interpretive sign to explain to the public the context of this small waterway within the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed, its significance, and how to help take care of it. The Laguna Foundation expressed a willingness to get involved, and offer resources and expertise to help, and Prof Geist was enthusiastic about opportunities for his students to become involved in some way.
These suggestions were consistent with references in the initial conceptual plan to planting native plants alongside the footpath leading to the Laguna channel.
Subsequently, a member of the Laguna Foundation staff and I met with the City Manager to discuss the possibilities, and I understand there was a second later meeting between the City manager and another member of the LF staff.
Public Comment
On reading agenda item 11D now, regarding the contract for the Putnam Park project, I'm disappointed to see no specific mention of planting native plants along the waterway, a small tributary to the Laguna.
The Cleargov Putnam Park Design Plan is very indistinct, though it does show vegetation on the south side of the park and a meandering path along the east side. By contrast the plan revised 7/27/23 shows only a dead-straight path adjacent to the multi-use sports field and large dog park, with bleachers, and amenities such as a drinking fountain and waste bins - so mention of trees or vegetation of any kind. It looks as though the potential to enhance the little waterway is literally being squeezed out.
The Bid Tab Summary sheet lists 20 x 24" box trees and 30 x 15 gal trees but it's not clear where these are to be planted, or what kind of trees they will be? What is the nature of the Interpretive sign listed under site amenities, and is it, as previously suggested, a sign about the Laguna de Santa Rosa? I'm disappointed not to see more reference to - and more physical space in terms of a setback - for the potential for this small waterway to be improved with native plantings that would also help create a pleasant, shady walkway, while helping to provide some habitat for birds, etc. and with the potential to use plants such as sedges to filter and clean stormwater before it enters the Laguna.
Can staff clarify whether any of this will be considered in future phases, and if not is there any chance to reconsider any of this now?
Jenny Blaker